By Juliet Agoyi
Sweden stunned the United States 5-4 in a sudden-death penalty shootoutk Sunday to surge into a Women’s World Cup quarter-final against Japan and consign the defending champion to its earliest-ever exit.
After a goalless 120 minutes which were dominated by the USA, Lina Hurtig’s penalty to win the tie required VAR to rule it had crossed the line, after Alyssa Naeher thought she had saved the USA’s World Cup defence.
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USA forward Sophia Smith had missed the chance to win the match from the spot earlier in the shoot-out, blazing wide after Naeher saved Rebecka Blomqvist’s effort.
Sweden were saved by an outstanding performance from Zecira Muscovic after the USA dominated the goal-scoring chances, with the goalkeeper producing stunning stops to deny Lindsey Horan’s curling shot and Alex Morgan’s late header to force extra-time.
This devastating early exit will be seen as a major underachievement for USA.
For the winners it was more chance than dominance.
